A 23-year-old Orlando woman is facing charges after a dispute with her ex-boyfriend over his Pokémon card collection escalated into a physical confrontation that ended with neighbors pulling her out of his apartment. Nadia Hussain was arrested Nov. 7 in connection with the incident, which left her ex-boyfriend, Jordan Bonilla, unable to complete a 911 call after she allegedly struck his phone repeatedly.
According to the affidavit as reported by WFTV, the dispute began after Bonilla asked Hussain to leave his apartment and she refused. Police say she swiped at his phone as he began filming her, then hit him several times on his head and body while demanding that he delete the recording. Dispatchers received a 911 hang-up call from his number, and police said she struck his phone repeatedly while he was attempting to call for help.
Hussain told an officer she grabbed Bonilla’s Pokémon cards off the coffee table and noticed that doing so affected his behavior, according to the same affidavit. Notably, the reported affidavit lists domestic battery and witness tampering to hinder communication with law enforcement — but it does not list a theft charge involving the cards. In other words, the cards appear to have become a flashpoint in the confrontation rather than the basis of any property crime.
Neighbors Step In
Per the affidavit, neighbors eventually helped get Hussain out of the apartment as the confrontation played out. The case, as reported by Hypefresh, remains in its early stages, and the Orlando Police Department released the arrest warrant that underpins the reporting. The allegations against Hussain have not been proven in court, Dexerto notes.
Hussain faces a domestic battery charge along with an obstructing justice charge for allegedly hindering a witness from communicating with law enforcement. The witness-tampering charge in this case is characterized as a third-degree felony. The statute broadly describes hindering, delaying or preventing communication to a law enforcement officer or judge about the commission or possible commission of an offense.
A Pattern of Card-Related Crime in Florida
This isn’t the first time Pokémon cards have landed someone in handcuffs in the Sunshine State this year. Dexerto reports that in May, a Florida man was arrested after allegedly using a chainsaw to steal $12,000 worth of cards. Separately, a thief stole hundreds of Pokémon cards worth an estimated $35,000 from OGPokeCards, a card shop in Belleview, Florida, according to FOX 35 Orlando, which reported that Belleview police had not identified a suspect and were still seeking surveillance video from neighboring businesses.
The broader collectibles market helps explain why cards keep showing up in crime reports. The trading-card industry has been valued at $7.8 billion, with forecasts putting it at $11.8 billion by 2030. The BBC also reported that the Certified Trading Card Association had observed a large rise in thefts targeting US trading-card stores, and quoted antique-shop director Ashley Hudson describing Pokémon cards as a liquid asset.
Hussain’s case remains in its early stages, and no further court dates have been reported.
